Opposition Leader Criticizes Proposed Land Tax Increase in Response to Health Services Amendment Bill

Opposition Leader Ralph Thorne has said the government cannot use people’s land tax bills for anything other than land taxes that have been assessed on the value of the property.

The Christ Church South MP offered this in response to the proposed Health Services (Amendment) Bill which was introduced on Tuesday in the House of Assembly by Attorney General Dale Marshall.

The bill proposes to impose a $300 administrative penalty for properties with bush and grass taller than two feet and an additional $10 each day the lands remain in the condition after an order by the Ministry of Health to clean up. As a last resort, Marshall said the government would clear the land if it posed a public health threat, and in those circumstances, the bill for this cost would be added to the owner’s land taxes.

Thorne questioned the legality of the proposal, stressing that government could not arbitrarily add to people’s land taxes. “You can’t legally conflate a remediation to a land tax,” he argued.

At the same time, Thorne accused the Mottley administration of being the worst offender when it comes to overgrown properties, a problem for which it was now seeking to penalise citizens.

Furthermore, he lashed out at the administration for “refusing to augment the [Environmental Health Department] with an adequate number of health inspectors”, while thanking the officers for their work during the COVID-19 pandemic.

The opposition leader said the lack of public health inspectors was contributing to the current issues, as he called on the Minister of Health to visit departments in the ministry to find out why staff were so unhappy.

Thorne accused the administration of being “intolerant to criticism” and demanded that government pay more attention to healthcare workers, if it professes to care about the healthcare system.

“Government has a duty to listen to the voice of the people who suffer and stop the charade of seeking celebrity status in a country where there is widespread suffering,” he told the House.

“When a [person] is ill, he or she must be treated with respect and if government claims to care for people … they must treat those who care for those who are ill with respect. They must care for caregivers and doctors.”

Thorne was highly critical of the government for encouraging investment in private healthcare facilities, while the public healthcare system was deteriorating. He accused the administration of losing its way in public healthcare delivery in Barbados.

He stressed: “The majority of Bajans cannot afford expensive private healthcare; that is why the lines are so long at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital (QEH). People just cannot afford private care.”

He called on the administration to pay more attention to polyclinics, the QEH and its Accident and Emergency Department, as well as public health officers.

When it came to consultation with citizens, Thorne blasted the administration’s Parish Speaks programme as “pseudo engagement and pantomimes” rather than real engagement with Barbadians, adding that the sessions were carefully managed and rehearsed events. (IMC1)